Researching Tourist Researching Tourist Behaviour: Behaviour:

Marketing ResearchMarketing Research

 The data on consumer behaviour…

 Qualitative  Quantitative

The problem involved in collecting & interpreting this data.

Focus Points

  “Marketing Research” VS. “Market Research”

 Marketing Research  the collection of data with the single intention of using it to make an organization’s marketing activities more effective.

→ the systematic gathering and analysis of data to provide relevant information to aid decision-making

 Market Research  is applied, action-based research  To acquire information about market situation (Trends)

 E.g. Competition, Economic situation (employment, income level of Thai people)

Focus Points:

 Sources of information

 1) Internal source – internal information which held by the organization , including:

 Customer records

 Guest history

 Departmental reports

 Marketing and sales report

 2) External source – external information can be collected via internet and publications including :

 International and national government organizations

 Marketing research organizations

 Company annual reports

 Trade associations

 Hospitality Industry trade press

 Financial press

 Universities and academic publishers

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Secondary data collection

 Secondary (desk) data are data that have already been collected  It is relatively easy to obtain secondary data since the information has

already been published  Limitations to secondary data include:

 data have been collected and analysed by another organization  some organizations may deliberately manipulate data  other organizations may have inadvertently introduced bias  information is generally available to competitors  secondary data and analysis can often be ‘dated’ because of the long

time between carrying out the research and publishing  the findings

 Primary data collection

 Primary data consist of original information collected by an organization for a specific purpose.

 The data have not been published before.  The organization conducting or commissioning the research determines

the research objectives and research questions.  Data are collected directly to provide answers to those questions.  Primary research is usually more costly than the secondary research.  Advantages of primary research include the following:

 The ability to frame the research questions to the needs of the organization

 Research is current and not dated  Research is confidential

 Primary data can enable a hospitality company to gain competitive advantage if competitors are not carrying out similar research.

 Quantitative Research

 The findings are descriptive, empirical and if collected randomly (using a probability sample), can be generalized to larger populations.

 Can be computer-analyzed  E.g. How many people use certain products, or how

f r e q u e n t l y t h e y u s e t h e m . → the number of customers, passengers, residents, diners, room nights, room occupancy

Consumer Research Methodology

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Quantitative research methods

 Exit surveys  Mystery customer audits  Telephone surveys  Online surveys  Omnibus surveys

 Qualitative Research

 Consist of depth interviews, focus group, observation, qualitative questions in surveys

 Findings cannot be generalized to larger populations as the sample sizes are necessarily small.

 The techniques have roots in psychoanalytic & clinical aspects of psychology

 Stress open-ended and free response types of questions  Respondents spend a significant amount of time face-to-

face with a highly trained professional interviewer-analyst  High-cost  small group of sample  the findings are not

projectable to the market place  Eg. New ideas for products or promotional campaigns

Consumer Research Methodology

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Closed and open-ended questions

 Closed questions provide a number of alternative answers from which the respondent chooses one answer, for example questions about:  respondent’s age, sex, employment, income

 Closed questions use a structured format which creates a data set that can be efficiently analysed using statistical methods.

 Closed questions are essential if a quantitative research method is used

 Open-ended questions allow respondents to provide their own answers,  Examples include ‘Where would you stay tonight if this hotel was fully booked?’ and

‘How did you feel about the quality of service?’  Open question allows respondents to use their own words to describe their

experience, feelings and opinions.  Qualitative research findings using open questions provide ‘rich’ data  Researchers usually ask a combination of both closed and open questions

and combine qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Compare Le Meridien and Malmaison in-room customer questionnaires

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 Online Research

 Advantages of online research include:  significant cost savings in the design and

administration of questionnaires and discussion groups

 the ability to accurately target surveys to current, former or potential customers.

 Often, customers are incentivized to participate in online surveys

 Post- consumption e-surveys provide customers with a convenient tool to give feedback on service quality and customer satisfaction.

 Tools such as blogs and social networking sites are useful to obtain unsolicited such for customer- generated comment

 The Internet is available to all sizes of hospitality companies.

 1. To provide opportunities to develop new product 2. To set price 3. To ensure the distribution network is working 4. To select the best promotional techniques & appropriate advertising

media 5. Subdivide the whole market into segments 6. To provide customer service in the light of customer comments 7. To review & change brand and logo 8. To make decisions about investment in new facilities 9. To choose location for new business 10. To indicate opportunities for diversification

The Purposes of Gathering Data

 Variety of data on tourist behaviour is required including;

1. Statistical profiles of tourists  age, gender, income, marital status, occupation

1. Statistical records of tourist behaviour  Where tourists like their holiday  When do they take vacation  How much they spend on their holiday  How many trips they take each year

1. How tourists make purchasing decisions 2. Who make the purchase decision 3. When the purchase decision is made

Variety of Data on Tourist Behaviour

 6. Consumer perceptions

 Perception leads to actual behaviour 6. Tourist satisfaction 7. The identification of trends in tourist behaviour 8. Segmentation criteria 9. Product positioning in relation to competitors 10. The attitude of non-users

 To gain new customers

Variety of Data on Tourist Behaviour (cont.)

 12. Cultural & national differences in tourist behaviour

 International company I. ‘Hard’ differences such as variationis in the main holiday season

dates II. ‘Soft’ differences such as attitudes toward service and the desire

for particular types of facilities. 12. The link between the consumer behaviour of tourists and

their purchase of products  People do not buy vacations in isolation from how they

purchase other products. (lifestylespurchase behaviour)

Variety of Data on Tourist Behaviour (cont.)

 Problems involved in the collection & interpretation of the gathered data

1. The difficulties in identifying & measuring tourism  Domestic tourism: tourists do not cross any national boundaries

1. The disagreements on how long one has to stay away from home before one is a tourist  At lease one night away from home (exclude day-trips)

1. Tourists can provide inaccurate information  Do not wish to offend the interviewer  Lie about activities because ashamed of them  Genuinely not remember

Current Weaknesses in Consumer Behaviour Research in Tourism

 4. The difficulties for tourists to answer the standard

questions  Where & when did you first here about the destination?  Are you likely to use this airline again in future?

4. The problem of when to ask people question  Before/During /After

4. The difficulties of finding a sample of tourists that is representative of tourists as a whole  Seasonality of demand different types of tourists  Tourists are all individual  Interviewer bias

Current Weaknesses in Consumer Behaviour Research in Tourism (cont.)